(Reuters) - Imprisoned serial child sex offender Jerry Sandusky lives under tight restrictions for his own safety, a corrections official said on Saturday, after the former Penn State football coach asked for more prison privileges.

"He is being housed in the appropriate facility in order to assure his safety," said Susan McNaughton, press secretary for the Pennsylvania state Department of Corrections.

She responded to questions from Reuters after one of Sandusky's lawyers complained that his client was confined to his cell 23 hours a day.

"He's being treated like the worst of the worst in the state prison system in terms of his daily routine," attorney Karl Rominger said on Saturday.